I am director of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, and a professor of chemistry and biomaterials at the University of Cambridge. I am a 2019 Philip Leverhulme Prize winner.

I work on light’s interaction with materials in order to understand how it produces optical effects. I study man-made materials that mimic natural structures. My research interest is located at the interface of chemistry, physics and biology.